One-Time Ronin
by DockOck
Summary: Minato Sahashi spent two years in Tokyo prior to being a two time Ronin. Its wholly possible for things to play out completely different in 730 days.
1. Chapter 1

C1

Minato Sahashi was for all intents and purposes, average. He wasn't poor, and didn't grow up sociopathic. He went to school and had hopes and aspirations, all of which were rather normal for a boy his age in the region he lived in. He wanted to get into a good college so that he could get a good job and maybe meet a good girl and have a family to lead what he would hope would be a good life. It was the little things that differentiated him from the other everymen in the universe, from his slightly lean build, down to his gray eyes which at present had dark bags under them. However, if one were to ask someone who knew the boy personally what made him so special, they would mention three qualities. The first being his lack of confidence and overall passiveness, this was brought about mostly due to his upbringing, his mother and sister being the primary female influences in his life and both being particularly headstrong built in him a level of meekness that most people lacked. The second quality that differentiates him from others would be his intelligence, while no one really knows what makes one intelligent evidence exists that correlates it with genetics, something his father would gladly point out, and his mother would vehemently deny. The third quality which is likely what endeared him to his sister, would have to be his kindness, while the boy lacked any real confidence or drive, he was, fundamentally a kind and intelligent person, truth be told, he really was an everyman. And as an everyman, there was one thing he was quite used to, one thing that popped up more frequently in his life than anything else. Disappointment.

His head was throbbing. It felt as though someone was playing the drums on his brain. It was a steady beat. Minato realized that it was in tune with his heartbeat. It made sense after all, considering that he hadn't had much sleep recently. He was currently in cram school, praying to whatever god japanese people in 2020 prayed to that he wouldn't experience that which he was so used to in the coming weeks. In the next few weeks he was going to take an entrance exam for a university he wanted to go to. It was his first time taking it, and he hoped he passed because he wasn't sure what he'd do if he didn't. He'd just gotten back a practice exam that had been handed out, he'd gotten a perfect score. Not that anyone else knew, he didn't know anyone on his class particularly well. Today was the last day of cram school and most of the students were going out to a karaoke bar to celebrate, everyone was invited as is normal for these types of social situations, but Minato decided not to go, he was feeling anxiety at the moment, a perfect score on a practice exam only meant that he knew the material, it didn't mean anything in terms of admission. Drinking in some dingy karaoke bar with people he didn't know too well or care about particularly much wasn't his idea of an ideal afternoon. He slipped out, not that anyone noticed or Minato might not have had any actual plans for what to do with his time, he still didn't want to spend it with what essentially amounted to strangers he didn't care about. He decided his time was better spent walking around the city. He had a headache anyways and drinking would just exacerbate it.

The city air was cool on his face. Tokyo had taken environmental protection measures recently and the use of electric smart cars was becoming more commonplace. He inhaled deeply, loving it's crispness. The closest place to him, of note, geographically, was the local park. He walked around for a few moments admiring the scenery before sitting down on a mahogany brown bench across from a small tree. Squirrels running around burying their nuts, the occasional person walking around, that was his view. Moments like these were the current highlight of Minato's life. For the brief period of tranquility they provided if anything. He just sat there on the park bench for the next hour or so, under the summer sky. While the moment provided him with an all too brief period of peace, it was marred by one simple question.

Why. He still didn't have any particular reason to be going to Shinto Teito. In fact he was fairly confident that if he'd applied to any other college, he'd get in in a heartbeat. Perhaps that specifically was why he'd decided to apply to Shinto Teito. He didn't want to go to a place where he'd get by without a problem. Perhaps he was intentionally seeking out a challenge. Perhaps it was just the prestige of getting into Shinto Teito that did it for him. He still wasn't sure. But he had realized that he'd been sitting on this bench for far too long.

He stood up and began making his way towards the exit. And as much as he loved this specific spot in this specific park, he was burning his own time. He looked at his watch. It was 5 pm. He still had time to do something before heading back home. He decided that he might as well stock up on groceries, the supermarket was on the way home after all. Just as he was about to leave, he was met by a familiar face. His eyebrows perked up in surprise and recognition, and for the briefest of moments, too quick for someone who wasn't paying attention at a close range to notice, his mouth formed an O shape. An old friend from his old town, looking down at an old phone. While it could be considered new if not outright bleeding edge by today's standards, by 2020, it was a two year old phone and people were already waiting for the release of the newest model. It was better than the piece of shit flip phone Minato had, which, while not the best thing imaginable, still did what a phone was meant to do, namely calling and texting. It even had some web browsing capabilities. He smiled, a welcome surprise at seeing someone he cared about for once. "Yasaka!" He exclaimed.

His friend, noticing him, smiled as he looked up from the screen. "Hey! Minato! Long time no see!" He responded.

"When did you get to Tokyo?" Minato asked

"I just got here last week, I wanted to call you but my phone's memory got wiped, I lost all my contacts. It's actually crazy meeting you here like this!" He laughed.

"Yeah, it is pretty crazy, so what brings you to Tokyo?" Minato questioned. His eyes closed and a big smile stretching across his face, revealing his white teeth as he scratched the back of his head.

"Wanderlust, I guess. I figured I'd get a job in the big city, see if I can't make it here. I mean, usually once you get a job, you're in for life right? But mostly I'm here to visit a relative of mine." Yasaka shrugged.

"Oh, so you're staying with your relative then?" Minato started "Because I could use a roommate to-"

"Dude, do you live with your mom because she works in Tokyo? No, man, my relative is in the hospital, she's my cousin, and she's pretty sick." Yasaka interrupted.

A brief flash of anger ran through Minato at the interruption, he may have been used to being interrupted, but he didn't expect such a thing from his friend."Oh, Yasaka, I'm sorry, I didn't know-" Minato began to apologize, yet again cut off by Yasaka. He stopped scratching the back of his head, opting instead to place his hand on his thigh, if one were paying attention, they might have noticed a slight tension in Minato's fingers.

"It's cool, I'm actually sorry for snapping at you like that. I'm just a little stressed out is all. Everything is so different here. No one talks to anyone else, everyone just keeps to themselves and if you try to start a conversation they look at you like you're a weirdo or something." Yasaka intoned, a defeated look across his face.

Yasaka wasn't paying attention, too engrossed in his own feelings, but were he paying attention, he would have seen Minato's gaze lower ever so slightly, looking into the distance as a small, forlorn smile glanced over his lips momentarily. His fingers relaxed. Minato smiled, he knew how that felt, the overwhelming feeling one got when they moved to a come tell different environment, if he had to pick one key difference between his hometown and Tokyo, it would have to be the lack of communication. Back home, it was normal for strangers to talk to each other, people were a lot more open. But here, in Tokyo, you were supposed to keep to yourself. "I know that feeling, Yasaka, it doesn't ever go away, but you'll get used to it eventually." Minato slid over on the bench, gesturing at the free space with his eyes to his friend.

Yasaka took the invitation and sat down next to his friend "So what were you doing here? In the park by yourself anyways?" He asked

"I was just sitting and relaxing, you know how it is. So you never did tell me where you were staying." Minato responded.

"It's nowhere special, just this cheap place in the western part of the city." Yasaka said, his hand waving out to the side.

Minato curled his left hand and began scratching his fingers near his knuckles with his right, "So where are you going now?" he inquired.

"Right now? No plans, what about you?" Yasaka answered, leaning further back into the park bench, stretching his legs and spreading them out.

"I was actually planning on going to get some groceries before I saw you." Minato replied, tilting his head, ever so slightly towards the exit of the park.

"You mind if I join you? I was walking to clear my head. Hey, before I forget, give me your phone for a second." His friend requested.

"Why?" Minato asked, genuinely confused for a moment before realization dawned on him and he handed his phone over wordlessly.

Yasaka just smirked as he punched his number into the keypad before hitting the call button and handing it back to his friend. "Now, we have each other's number." He snorted.

Both young men made their way out of the park, they walked in silence. However, it wasn't an awkward silence, both men were familiar enough with each other that they realized that there was simply a lull in the dialog, and neither wanted to fill it. That was, until Yasaka, overcome by genuine curiosity rather than a need to continue the conversation, decided to start talking. "So what are you buying anyways?" He asked

"Rice and instant noodles." Minato replied

Yasaka winced, "that's like the definition of slumming it dude." the lightest hint of laughter could be heard on his voice.

Minato had a small smile on his face, "No,I think slumming it is what happened last Summer vacation when you tried to ask Yukari out." Minato was not, by any stretch of the word, a smug person, so his tone and attitude at that specific moment could not be considered it. However, the satisfaction at the potency of his comeback made itself prevalent once he saw his friends' reaction.

Yasaka winced at the subtle jab. His eyebrows raised as he realized that he had a counter. "So, city boy, tell me, all this time in the capital, you've definitely gotten a girlfriend in all this time, right?" His eyes glinted in the light of the street lamps as he said this.

No Minato winced, "Haven't really had the time, what with cram school and all." Minato rubbed his shoulder as he said this.

"Well, if you're in the market for one, I know a girl who could definitely use some company." Yasaka laughed.

Minato's eyebrows hiked up, "Is it the sick cousin you were talking about?"

Yasaka grinned, "Still as smart as ever Sahashi, so what do you say? She's pretty dude, and she's one of the nicest girls I know. You'll have a hard time finding a girl like her. I can promise you that"

Minato scratched the back of his head for a moment in contemplation, "You know what? Sure, why not. Might as well, right?"

"Cool, so when do you want me to introduce you?" Yasaka asked

"Anytime after the exam, would be good." Minato replied, shrugging to a degree where it was almost imperceptible.

Yasaks's eyes quickly glanced up before widening for a moment, too quickly for Minato to notice. "Alright, I'll keep in touch, but I've got to get going now." He said, raising his forearm in a quick wave.

Minato, for the briefest of moments, looked taken aback, "I thought you said you were going to come get groceries with me?"

Yasaka stopped in front of a building before gesturing to it quickly, Minato, noticing this, followed his friend's example. "I was, but then I noticed that we're standing in front of the place I just got hired to work at, I think I'll drop in and introduce myself to the coworkers before my shift, it starts in like an hour anyways." He replied

Minato took note of the building, looking at it skeptically, "This is a Nightclub Yasaka, are you even old enough to work here?" Minato inquired

"This is actually a host club, Minato, and it's great, I'm pretty much getting paid to chat up MILFs dude. Besides, so long as I don't drink anything it'll be fine." Yasaka responded.

Minato just looked on concernedly, He put his left fist on his hip, and raised his right hand, pointing his pointer finger at the establishment, "Yasaka, I'm sure you can make your own decisions, but this doesn't sound like the best of ideas, you know the rumors that are floating around about places like this." he said.

"Dude, relax, I know what I'm doing." Yasaka scoffed.

"Look," Minato responded, "All I'm saying is, is that the men who visit hostess clubs tend to be old, and not the best looking, they're essentially cruising around for a legal excuse for prostitution. You're going to get the female equivalent of that. Odds are, the ladies you're being paid to chat up won't be milfs."

"I know what I'm doing," Yasaka grunted.

"Just don't come crying to me when you get raped by a bunch of faceless, fat, old, japanese businesswomen." Minato laughed.

For a moment Yasaka had a small smile on his face, as he smirked, he exhaled through his nose a bit harder than normal, he found Minato's joke mildly entertaining. "You've been reading too many doujins," he responded.

For a moment, both friends stood outside the host club, neither knowing how to continue the conversation. "Right, well, I gotta go, I'll catch you later man." Yasaka said, slightly raising his hand in a goodbye gesture.

Minato waved Yasaka off and continued on his way to the grocery store. As he walked down the path he'd memorized from living near the area for so long Minato felt an emptiness, a pure disconnect from his surroundings. There were no real familiar faces around him. For a small town boy like Minato, it had been difficult to acclimate to such a situation at first, but eventually he'd gotten used to it. Minato still didn't have a reason to want to get into the college he was testing for, he just did. Soon, however, his thoughts turned to the exam itself, and his gut filled with an unbridled sense of anxiety, this had been happening ever since he decided to apply for the university in the first place. It had only gotten worse in the last few weeks, a feeling that was both sinking in his gut, and rising through his body, combined with a torrent of what ifs and thoughts of failure, it was this feeling that reignited the headache he had, the dull throbbing that had disappeared in the park had returned in full force, for a moment, Minato could have sworn that he could hear his heartbeat. Eventually he found himself in front of his destination. Grabbing a grocery cart, he made his way inside.

As the automatic doors opened to welcome him into the grocery store his face was immediately assaulted by a gust of cold wind, air conditioning in the middle of fall, not the brightest decision, considering that the japanese autumn wasn't particularly hot. The cold air, while not stopping his headache, did, temporarily soothe it. For a brief moment Minato thought of all the money this unnecessary use of air conditioning was costing the owner of the store before he realized that the owner of a grocery store likely had more money than a kid who still received an allowance from his mother. He tried to conjure up the list he'd created in his mind about what he needed to buy, when he realized that as a starving soon to be college student, he really only needed to buy instant noodles, a bag of rice, and maybe some instant curry mix. It might not have been the healthiest, of best tasting, but it was probably one of the cheapest considering that he bought in bulk at the beginning of every month.

His confusion pervaded him as he went down aisle six, not at aisle six itself, but rather, as a continuation of what he was going through at present. He grunted as he hefted a 25 pound bag of rice into his grocery cart With all his groceries in hand, he wandered back to the cash register, trapped in his own thoughts. By the time he rounded back to aisle four to pick up a multipack of instant noodles, he began thinking about the exam, and confusion became replaced with anxiety and doubt. The entirety of his thought process being 'What if I don't make it in? What will I do after? I really don't want to go back home.' These thoughts, of course, passed shortly after he adding the noodles to his cart.

While he was concerned about the exam before, now he was more focused on his home situation. He lived in a crappy singles apartment owned by a gremlin of a man. Balding, rude, paunchy, nosy, and intrusive, and truth be told, a little smelly as well. The man always reeked of tobacco, garlic, and sweat. His apartment was crappy too, it was run down, had leaky faucets, and smelled funny. Truth be told, it kind of smelled like the owner, not that Minato would ever want to make that association. As Minato thought back to his and Yasaka's conversation, he realized that even if he did get a girlfriend, not that that was looking for one any time soon, he probably wouldn't be able to bring her home became the troll that guarded his apartment, the owner, likely wouldn't want her insde. Still, Minato, ever the optimist realized that it could be worse, he could be living in Detroit. So trapped in his thoughts was Minato, that he didn't even realize that he was in someone's way until he bumped into them. She dropped her groceries, while Minato held his. Minato's eyebrows immediately shot up, his eyes widening in shock.

"Oh! I'm so sorry! I wasn't looking where I was going!" he said.

The girl, who was being absentmindedly herself, believed that she was the one at fault, she apologized to Minato as he apologized to her, saying the exact same words that he said to her, to him. Had Minato actually been looking at the woman he'd bumped into, he'd have noticed her appearance first. And still been distracted of course. The woman before him was clearly a head turner. He might not have crashed into get had he noticed her before, but he'd certainly have been sneaking glances all the while. She was a brunette, with short hair, cut off before it reached her shoulders. A very well endowed brunette, with a pair of wide hips And if Minato had to guess, a rear like an onion, in the sense that is very presence drove men to tears. And of course the face and voice of an angel, in the sense that if a man didn't believe in God, he would after witnessing her. Before Minato was a goddess of a woman. Her clothes, while protecting her modesty, left little to the imagination, a form fitting, sky blue, long-sleeved shirt, with the number 10 placed in a white star above her breasts. Her tight jeans with rips on the thighs gave teasing glances at the skin under those pants. Needless to say, Minato liked what he was seeing. While Minato preferred not to take initiative, being passive in nature, the politeness in his upbringing surged, and he felt compelled to help the woman up. "Sorry," he said again, bowing his head. "I should have been looking at where I was going, are you okay?" He asked as he helped the woman up, forcing himself to divert his eyes from her chest.

"I'm fine," the woman responded, "Don't worry about it." she continued, as she squatted down to pick up the groceries she dropped. Minato took this as his cue to squat down and help her pick up the groceries as well.

"I'm really sorry about this, I've had a lot on my mind lately" Minato said, looking directly at the woman "Are you sure you're alright?"

"Relax," the woman replied, "besides, it'll take more than a bump from a cutie like you to hurt me." the woman teased with a smirk and a wink, sticking her pointer finger out and poking Minato in the chest.

Minato stumbled back a bit, bumping into a nearby shelf of beans before grabbing it for support to prevent himself from falling. Somewhat taken aback by the woman's strength, his face heated up marginally, blood rushing to it, and concentrating particularly around his cheeks. Minato's experience with the fairer sex usually did not consist of flirtation. He would justify stumbling back when she hip checked him by telling himself that he wasn't ready for it and that if he was, he wouldn't have ended up the way he did.

The woman's eyes shot open when she saw what happened to Minato, and quickly reached out, grabbing his hand. "Sorry, I forget my own strength sometimes," she chuckled nervously. "Are you okay?" She asked

Minato may have been a weakling, physically speaking, but he still had some semblance of male ego, or masculine pride, he let her help him up and then dusted himself off. "I'm fine," he said. Minato's mind was drawing blanks at the moment, he really wasn't used to dealing with women. Especially flirty ones. He thought he had to say something else to keep the conversation going, truth be told, if he didn't an awkward silence would likely befall the two of them, and then they'd both likely just awkwardly say goodbye. This was all happening over the span of fractions of seconds, of course.

Then, in a rare moment of what others might consider conversational genius, but what Minato would consider a brain fart, he said "Besides, it'll take more than a bump from a cutie like you to hurt me," repeating the girl's words to her exactly, Minato's face remained blank immediately after saying what he did, however, the instant those words left his mouth, a bead of sweat began making its way down the back of his neck as Minato panicked internally. 'Oh god, why'd I say that? Please laugh it off, please, for the love of god laugh it off.' He thought. The only facial movement one may have noticed if they were paying attention would be the slightest opening of his eyes and the tightening of his jaw. He really didn't mean to say that, he really didn't mean to flirt. The woman was clearly out of Minato's league, she was easily a ten, and Minato was slightly above average at best.

The girl hiked her eyebrows up, surprised by Minato's outburst, her face burst into a radiant smile that reached her eyes, her lips and cheeks parting to reveal pure, white, teeth. She let out a small snort. She held her hand up to her chest, and Minato could see that her cheeks were the slightest bit red as well. "Nice comeback, hot stuff," She let out a jovial sigh, one that intoned nothing short of pure mirth before continuing, "anyways, it's been nice meeting you, but I've got to get going. Kind of in a hurry." She waved him off before walking down to the cashiers and, Minato assumed, paying for her groceries. For a moment Minato stood awkwardly, his face hard, and locked into an expression of pure disgust and malice, were anyone to walk past or in front of him, they might wonder what it was that put him in such a bad mood, but the Sahashi son was not in a bad mood, rather, he was confused; his brain was still processing the events that just transpired. 'Did that just happen? That never happens.' He thought. Putting his right palm on his temple, and still trying to process what just happened, Minato started walking, his expression changing to one of only mild bewilderment. He proceeded to grab his required groceries and paid without any hassle.

As he began walking back home Minato let out a deep breath through his nose, and for the first time in the last hour, smiled. "That was a good comeback," he said to himself, before catching himself immediately, "Was it really though? Maybe she was just being polite. And I apologized like three times, who does that?" he whispered, tensing up a bit in frustration at himself and his perceived shortcomings in his conversation with the brunette in the supermarket. Minato made his way home; his trip was marred by and unspeakable conflict. One where he was beaten horribly, naturally said conflict was mental in nature. The entirety of that half hour walk back to his rented apartment consisted of Minato berating himself over perceived awkwardness or shortcomings that happened during his conversation. After Minato made his way home, his day was mostly unremarkable, he prepared instant noodles for dinner and went to sleep on his futon, not bothering to change his clothes aside from taking off his jeans and shirt, he threw his cellphone to the foot of his futon. His thoughts kept drifting to that girl he saw in the market. Minato found that he couldn't get her out of his mind. He also found that he had a boner. After going taking care of said boner, he laid down in bed, trying to go to sleep. He found that he couldn't, his thoughts kept drifting back to the brunette he met today.

After he'd drifted off to sleep, his dreams were, for the most part, a blur of images, smells, and sounds. He dreamt he was with a woman, he didn't know how she looked, he just knew she was beautiful. He couldn't see her face, but he felt instinctively, that she looked like an angel. Her voice could only be described as cherubic. He wasn't himself in his dream, rather, he could see himself, like if he were in a movie or a television show. He was with the woman whose face he couldn't see, they were together in what appeared to be a park of some sort. "Hey, come on! Let's go!" She called out, dragging him along by the hand. He could not see anything above her mouth, her nose, and eyes, anything above her lips, were cut off, as though the camera that were recording the dream kept it out of frame. He couldn't really see himself either, just his hand, but he knew, instinctively, that it was him with that woman. He could smell her, and he'd describe her smell as feminine, the smell of a woman, "No matter what happens, we'll be together," she promised. Minato wanted to ask questions, who she was, where they were, but couldn't. He was simply observing what was happening. The Minato he was seeing elected to remain silent. He and the girl stopped in front of a pond, ducks were swimming and she crouched down to get a closer look. The frame cut to her back, and all Minato could see was the red shirt he was wearing. "Why are you so sad?" She asked.

A chime went off next to Minato's head and he woke up with an erection. His eyes slowly cracked open as the noise produced by his cellphone's alarm assaulted his ears. He sat up so he could reach his cellphone before turning the alarm off. "Nine-Thirty, AM? I can't believe I forgot to turn off my alarm, I don't even have anything to do today." He groaned. While normally the sunlight may have assaulted his eyes and prevented him from falling asleep, he was lucky to be as lazy as he was yesterday that he hadn't even bothered to open the curtains before leaving. However, his attempts at going back to sleep were stymied by a loud knocking at his door. Minato looked around for some sweatpants and a t-shirt, finding them on a pile on the floor, before donning them. He noticed that his erection had still yet to pass, so he did the trick most men would to to conceal their girth, he tucked it into his waistband so he could answer the door. He was met face to crown of head with his balding, hunchbacked landlord, which quickly resolved his erection issue.

"Sahashi," His landlord began, "your lease expires next month. I'm not renewing it."

"What? Why?!" Minato exclaimed, the sleepiness and grogginess in his system jolted out by this sudden bit of news.

"I've got to do some construction here, apparently the building's not up to code, you can't live here while that happens or I'll get fined by the city. I'm sorry, I wish I had better news, you're a good tenant, always paid on time, but I can't afford to be fined in addition to the construction I have to do. Be out of here by next month. One of my other tenants or one of the neighbors must have said something. First it's the trash in front of the property, now it's this. I'll bet it's that asshole Kojima that keeps reporting me " He grumbled, as he turned around and walked back down the flight of stairs.

Minato closed his apartment door before sitting down on his futon. "Shit." he said.

* * *

A/N: For those of you without reading comprehension, canonically speaking, Minato was a two time ronin, meaning that he'd failed the exam to get into his college twice before. The timeline in Sekirei is incredibly vague. I'm assuming that the entrance exams are an annual thing. Take into consideration the fact that Minato, instead of just taking the train to Tokyo or something when the time for the exam came, was living there in a rented apartment. Was he renting it for both those years he failed the exam? That's what this story is about. In those two years, it's wholly possible for things to play out completely differently. Keep in mind that Kazehanna went on a year long sake tasting tour and came back around the time Sekirei started. That means she probably left around the time Minato failed his exam the first time. What about when Uzume and Matsu jacked the Jinki? It's not impossible it happened less than two years ago.


	2. Chapter 2 The Man With Gray Hair

C2

Minato Sahashi was for all intents and purposes, average. Unfortunately, he had just been notified that his apartment's lease would not be renewed next month. That meant that the boy had a month to search for a new place to live. Just yesterday, he'd felt emptiness towards his surroundings, and overall feelings of disillusionment at the prospect of going to college combined with anxiety at the prospect of taking the entrance exams for said university. Now, he was also experiencing fear and anxiety at the prospect of losing his current apartment. It might not have been the most spacious, or good looking, or even the cheapest, but it was a decent place to live at a very reasonable price, unlike much of the real estate in Tokyo.

At the present moment, he felt incredibly groggy, his thought process was extremely sluggish. Truth be told, if it weren't for the news his landlord had given him, he'd likely still be asleep. He glanced at his cellphone, 9:47 AM glared back at him. He brushed his teeth and made use of the bathroom before eating some white bread for breakfast. He walked out of his apartment and onto the sidewalks of Tokyo. 'Hey, wait a minute,' he thought to himself, 'Why am I leaving my apartment? I can just google cheap apartments for rent'.

Of course, it was only an instant after he had the thought that he decided to actually do it, only to be met with the most common feeling that he'd had lately, disappointment. Any of the apartments for rent in Tokyo were either more than he could afford on his current allowance, in bad areas, or, as the pictures taken showed, "aged, cozy, and with lots of character", or, in the words of anyone not desperate to rent them out, barely livable and disgusting.

His current living conditions weren't the worst thing imaginable, the apartment really wasn't that bad considering it was meant for singles with low income. The entrance exam wouldn't happen until later in the year, so, Minato realized that he'd have to live in Tokyo for a few months if he wanted to take it.

The thought of returning home, and coming back to take the exam briefly flashed through his mind, but he quickly squashed the idea, he really didn't want to go back home. He loved his family, but the time he'd spent apart from them was time that he'd greatly cherished. No overbearing mother, no overbearing sister, no nosy neighbors, no yelling from his overbearing mother and sister.

His living conditions might not have been the best, but he finally had a modicum of privacy, solitude, and silence. Doing some quick mental calculations, he estimated that his savings, if supplementing his allowance, would enable him to live in one of the less terrible apartments the internet was showing him.

Having to move while studying for entrance exams was the exact opposite of ideal, it was unideal. 'Alright, so I'm not working, at least not until after the exam is done, so I'm going to have to dip into my savings, no other way around it I guess. Maybe I should head outside, check out some of those places, lay a claim before someone else comes and takes the good ones' he thought.

Ultimately, he decided against leaving his apartment, at least for now. He lied down on his futon, placing both his arms behind his head, and looked around his room, there wasn't much to do besides chores and the like. He had an old TV, the kind that wasn't flat screen, a CRT, but none of the shows or anime he liked were airing at the moment. He could have turned on the old radio he had, but he didn't really feel like listening to music this quickly after getting up. He could study, but he really didn't want to after yesterday, he was starting to get sick of questions and exams, something he realized was less than optimal considering that he was taking entrance exams to get into a university where he would have to take even more exams for the next four or so, years.

He turned his head a little and looked outside his window, only to quickly wince and quickly avert his eyes. The sun was blasting it's solar radiation today particularly strongly. Truth be told, despite just waking up, because he didn't really have much to do today, Minato decided to go back to sleep. He got up from his futon and made his way towards his window before closing his curtains. Finally making his way back to his resting place. He pulled his blanket around himself and slowly drifted off to sleep.

As he opened his eyes for the second time that morning he rose with an incredibly clear head, any semblance of grogginess or tiredness was vanquished from his mind. He stretched and let out a small groan as he could feel his back, scapula and parts of his neck pop. He was bright eyed and energetic at the moment, a smile donned across his face because it felt so good being so well rested. By the time Minato woke up, his cellphone was displaying the numbers 12:58 PM. Figuring that he'd spent enough time in bed, he decided to leave the apartment, maybe look for a better one. He decided to go to an office that could help him with his current predicament.

Stepping outside for the second time that day, he took a deep breath of the crisp morning air, grinning as it flooded his lungs. The scent of rain was present, and as Minato looked around, he couldn't help but notice that it had indeed rained over the course of the night. The cement of the sidewalk was mostly dark and had spots that had bit of moisture on the surface, and there were distinct puddles on the ground in front of the entrance to his apartment. The street was empty, barring the parked cars of course. Locking his door behind him, he stepped out onto the sidewalk, and began walking in the direction of a realtor.

The streets of tokyo were sparsely populated, barring the occasional housewife going out shopping. This made sense to Minato, given the time of day, he assumed everyone was at work, or school. As he made his way towards his destination, he could hear clanging and the sound of what might have been a jackhammer a good distance away. Eventually, he laid his eyes on a construction site. As he walked past it, his eyes landed on a stunning woman in a purple chinese dress that left little to the imagination and heels. She was walking in the opposite direction as him. She had long ebony hair that flowed in a breeze he couldn't feel, and a body that savages might revere her for as a fertility goddess if they still existed, breasts almost as big as his head, an incredibly tight waistline, long, creamy legs that her dress showed off, and hips that did not lie.

The construction crew catcalled her as she walked past, although some were a bit more polite about it, "Hey beautiful, I get off in an hour, want to help me?" One crewman said. "You look gorgeous in purple," another said. This was all amid a sea of wolf whistles. While she did smile at the last one, the woman drew her eyes over the crew, but her view stopped when she looked at Minato, her purple gaze locked on his for a moment, and for the briefest of seconds, he felt like she was staring at him. His heart skipped a beat and he quickly averted his eyes and continued on his way to the realtors.

The realtor's office had no sign out front. It was, empty bar a single worker. He quickly ushered Minato inside and sat him down before introducing himself and giving him his card. The office itself was incredibly sparse, with a single fern in the far corner and a water cooler the corner opposite it. The desk Minato was seated at was small, and cluttered with papers and office supplies, as well as a single award trophy that he didn't bother paying attention to. The chair he was seated at was a cheap, brown, metal folding chair. It creaked and squeaked as he adjusted himself in it. Something that surprised Minato due to his low weight. A single incandescent bulb hung above both of them from a wire, dimly lit. If it weren't for the realtor himself, Minato would think this office was either being renovated, or abandoned.

The realtor didn't look much older than Minato himself, the man was in his early 20's at the very most, he couldn't have been older than 24. The man was thin, not lean, and had greasy black hair. As far as the style went, if a man with straight hair grew it out, and simply combed it to the side, that is what the realtor's hair would look like. Minato might not be able to tell the differences between the different types of suits, but even he could tell that what the realtor was wearing was low quality. There was a slight hint of sweat in the air, and, as Minato could see, there were sweat stains along the underarms of the realtor's suit. The man that stood before Minato was shaven, not cleanly, there were small patches of facial hair present, likely missed by him, when he was trying to shave. If the lack of stubble was anything to go by, he tried shaving this morning.

"Hello," The realtor said, "My name is Yamada Taro, how may I be of assistance?" He offered Minato a smile that did not reach his eyes, not that Minato would understand the significance of such a thing. But when he looked into his eyes he saw something that he saw when he looked in the mirror, desperation.

"My name is Minato Sahashi," he began "I used to be a highschool student, until I graduated in the summer. I'm looking for an apartment for less than 60,000 yen."

Just hearing Minato's introduction deflated the realtor a bit. But there was still hope in his eyes. "60 grand huh, I think I might have something," he said "let me look around for a bit."

Minato sat in that office for close to half an hour. While the encounter was mostly nonverbal, it was interspersed by the realtor awkwardly asking Minato a question every now and then specifying his parameters. Fifteen minutes into the search Minato got up to stretch his legs and made his way to the water cooler, he grunted as he did so. The realtor, if he heard Minato made no move, sound, or twitch to indicate that he did.

As Minato pulled a translucent plastic cup from the dispenser, he examined it. The dispenser and cooler were both old and weathered. The dispenser was half empty, and was covered in scratches and stains. The label that said Poland Spring was pristine in spite of the state of the machine it was on. The plastic cup in his hand was, for the most part flawless, however, he did have to struggle to remove it from the dispenser, the cups were tightly packed into it. The cup had the brand Dixie etched in small letters at its base, along with a recycling symbol.

He pushed the cup against the lever of the water cooler, and water fell ever so slowly into his receptacle. He could see and hear the water bubbling as it moved from the dispenser into his cup. Once the cup was full, he pushed it to his lips and took a small sip, and frowned, too small for anyone to notice. Minato himself hadn't noticed that he was currently using 43 facial muscles. He also hadn't noticed that he'd slightly narrowed his eyes. The water, despite being in a cooler was definitely room temperature, and had a slightly metallic taste. The water in his cup was not Poland Spring. It was not even Deer Park. The water in his cup was undoubtedly, unequivocally, tap. He made no comment, and simply stored his displeasure away mentally before sitting back down at the realtor's desk.

Ultimately, his visit to the realtor was useless. The man had been unable to find Minato anything decent in his price range. He gave Minato his business card before sending him off. After his visit to the realtor Minato was more anxious than he was disappointed. There were no apartments that fulfilled his criteria available for rent, at least, none that he could afford if he wanted to rent for a prolonged period of time, which, assuming he did get into the university, he would. His criteria weren't particularly stringent either. He didn't need much room, so a singles apartment would be ideal, especially considering that they were usually cheaper.

While Minato was capable of doing some basic cleaning, there were somethings that we was incapable of resolving by himself, and others that he couldn't resolve cheaply. Things like water damage, bad plumbing, bad gas and electric connections were apparently not against the law, he could not fix himself, and if he hired someone to fix them, the repair cost would detract from his overall staying time. The fact that people were allowed to rent places to live, out in such conditions confused him, but Minato realized that the free market would likely take care of those issues. If someone were willing to rent those places, they would, if someone wasn't, then the owner would likely try to, at the very least make some rudimentary attempt at repairs.

Thankfully, the realtor gave Minato the address of another realty office a bit further in the city. Minato, while slightly downtrodden, was not yet broken, he hadn't yet given up. He might have been a bit more anxious in the face of a setback, but his hope and optimism was still present. Considering that he didn't want to pay for train fare, he walked to the next realtor, and she told him the same thing as the first. The third realtor told him the same thing as the second. And the fourth realtor told him the same thing as the third.

It was now five o'clock on the dot and Minato was tired after walking around all day. He was now in the heartland of Tokyo, directly in front of the MBI building. He hadn't eaten all day, and he didn't have anything to drink either. His brow was coated in a thin sheen of sweat, and his heart rate was only slightly elevated, he drew long breaths somewhat faster than normal. He clearly wasn't exhausted, but a few more hours of his current activities, and he'd get there. He thanked the stars that MBI had a plaza that was open to the public directly in front of it.

Minato took a seat on a wooden bench with a nice view of the monolith that was MBI's main headquarters. Turning his head slightly to the side, he took note of a vending machine not too far from his current seat. Minato let out an exasperated sigh before letting out a quiet grunt as the got up from his seat and made his way to the machine. He took out two hundred yen notes and inserted them before selecting a bottle of water for his drink. It was the cheapest available option, and he really wasn't in the mood for anything sweet, or caffeinated.

Cracking open his bottle, he plopped back down on the bench as he took a long, thirsty gulp from his bottle. He took note of the crowd around him. While there was a small army of people milling around the building at present, they were all either moving frantically in and out of it, or posing in front of it for pictures. 'They all know what they're supposed to do,' he thought, 'they've got jobs, they've already done what I'm trying to do. Did these guys need to go to Tokyo University to get where they are now? I doubt it, so why do I even want to go? I could apply to any other college and I'd probably make it. Why is Tokyo University the only one I applied to?' He became lost in his thoughts for a decent amount of time, half an hour or so of that day was spent sitting there in the plaza in front of MBI.

However, after that half hour, another good hour was spent just people watching. Looking into the crowd he saw a variety of people. While a sizeable portion of them, truth be told, the majority, were people in black, blue, and brown suits, a decent minority were people in lab coats exiting the building, scientists and doctors he assumed. His eyebrows furrowed together in confusion when he saw a familiar head of gray hair. Recognizing the face under that hair, he grunted as he got up, off the bench and began making his way to the familiar looking figure.

As he neared the woman, his suspicions were confirmed. Years near her meant that he could recognize her just about anywhere. There was no doubting that the woman he saw in the distance, now with her back turned to him, was none other than his mother. Of course, due to Minato's less assertive nature, rather than calling out to her by saying "mom", he opted to go for a more neutral "excuse me" instead.

The woman, naturally turned around to face him, and Minato's suspicions were proven correct, the woman standing in front of MBI, currently smoking a cigarette with a clipboard in one hand was none other than his mother.

The second she saw him, her eyes widened , before quickly shifting to a deadpan look something that Minato took note of. "Mom? What are you doing here?" he asked.

"Well, right now I'm on my smoke break Minato," she replied.

"I mean what are you doing here, at MBI. I thought you said you works for a pharmaceutical company?" He countered.

"I'm here on business. I think a better question is what are you doing here? Don't you have entrance exams to study for?" She intoned in between puffs of tobacco.

"I'm relaxing, I've been studying nonstop for the last few days. I had a massive headache the other day, and after this morning it isn't going away anytime soon," he answered.

"Why, what happened this morning?" She inquired.

"The landlord said he's not renewing my lease, that means I've got until the end of the month to find a new place to live. He gave me the news this morning, and I've been looking for a place to stay all day," he replied.

Takami's expression softened, the cigarette that was between her lips once stood proudly at attention, was now hanging low "Minato, do you need some money or something? A raise in allowance?" She asked.

"Some more money would be great, but I think someone to sign the papers would be better." he replied.

"Sure son, don't worry about it, I've got this kind of stuff covered, just don't slack in your studies." She said, smiling and running her hand through his hair. "I'm a little busy all this week, so how does two weeks from now sound? Will you lease still be active then?"

"Yeah, thanks mom, thanks a lot," he smiled.

Takami looked up at the clocktower that comprised MBI's main building, the muscles she used for smiling quickly being supplanted with those used for frowning as she made notice of the time. "Minato, look, I'm sorry to cut this off so quickly, but I've got to get back to work," she said

"Alright mom, bye" He replied

"bye," she countered.

Minato sighed quietly as he saw his mother walk away. He turned around to look at his bench only to see that it was now occupied by some men in suits. He sighed again as he turned around and began making his way home.

On his way home he decided to walk around a little. Tokyo was known for its nightlife if anything. As such, after wandering for a bit he ended up finding himself in front of the club he saw Yasaka walk into yesterday.

He could barely hear the music through the clubs closed door, but it was still noticeable when he was directly in front of it. From outside the club, he couldn't really hear much of the music. He couldn't hear the lyrics, they were a muffled mess, and the accompanying harmony was also muffled. He could however, hear a beat, a very slow and low beat, but a beat nonetheless. Naturally this all would change the instant he opened the door, and so he hesitated. He looked down and let out a breath he didn't know he was holding.

'If i decide that I don't want to be in there and decide to walk out a second later, it'll look really awkward and I'll feel stupid. Besides, I'm not even old enough to drink, what if they decide to kick me out?' He thought.

It wasn't the prospect of hearing the music, or the music spiking in decibels that put him off of the idea of opening the door, rather, Minato was unsure if he wanted to enter, but then another thought ran through his head 'Yasaka works here, if he can go in, why can't I?'

Resolve renewed, the young man looked back at the door and breathed in again before pushing it open. Immediately the decibel level outside the club increased, a slow, steady beat with some light instrumentals, overall, a very soft sounding song of indiscernible genre buffeted his ears, it seemed to be a bizarre mixture of classic rock and very soft electronica.

Minato gulped and steeled his expression. While he may have felt he looked resolute, and determined, anyone who was looking at him would say that the face he was making was that of a man who was terrified. His lips were pursed into a thin line, the skin of his chin was taught. His eyes were wide, frantic, and dilated, rapidly shifting from side to side. While Minato may have looked terrified, the truth was, he was anything but, he was just extremely nervous at the most.

His shifting eyes scanned the club, flitting from person, to object, to decoration, and, as Minato expected, the patrons were, for the most part, middle aged women. Only a handful of them would be what Minato might call MILFS, a sizeable portion of them were average looking, but by far, the majority were by his definition, hideous.

Minato knew something like beauty was an incredibly subjective quality. For example, he preferred women who were well endowed, and had nice figures. He liked thick hips, long legs, and tight waists. He liked women with pretty faces and medium to long hair. He liked it when women had pretty faces. However, despite all of his preferences, he wasn't a particularly choosy individual. In fact, some people might actually go as far as to say that he has low standards.

To him, the criteria for a him to want a girl as a girlfriend would be that she not be fat, ugly, hairy, crazy, or a complete bitch. He'd find a girl attractive so long as she was at least passable in appearance. He might like big breasts, but he'd love a girl all the same if she didn't have them, he liked pretty girls, but he wouldn't mind if a woman was plain looking, he liked long hair, but wouldn't mind if a girl's hair was short.

Given his low criterion for a woman to be considered attractive, the fact that he still found a majority of the women present to be hideous should serve as a testament to just how ugly the inhabitants of the club were. He saw a short, woman with a unibrow approaching him, a mole on her forehead, with, if Minato was seeing correctly, a hair growing out of it. While middle-aged could be used to describe a majority of the patrons of this establishment, decrepit, or ancient would best be used to describe her. Even in the poor lighting of the club, he could see that her face was a mess of wrinkles and crow's feet. As she cracked her overly painted lips open, he could see yellowed and blacked, crooked teeth. Lust in her eyes.

Minato might have not been the most adept at reading body language, or expressions, but at that moment he felt like he was being stared at like a piece of meat. His heart rate skyrocketed. He could feel, and hear, his heart thumping in his chest. A bead of sweat rolled down the back of his neck as his eyes darted around, desperate to find a way to avoid social interaction. Host clubs not being his element, he looked for something that he could at the very least not completely screw up. His salvation was the bar that was at the far side of the club. He nervously walked past hordes of women pawing at, groping, or otherwise competing for the attention of men who were far better looking than him. The bar stools were for the most part taken, there only being available space on the far side of the bar.

However, it wasn't the bar that drew his attention, rather, it was the individual manning it and serving drinks to the hosts. A small squeak that he hoped no one heard came out of Minato's throat, before his eyes widened in recognition, hope, and optimism when he saw his friend Yasaka, who, at this point in the evening, was nothing short of a beacon of salvation. He smiled as he rushed to meet with his friend, apologizing when he bumped into the patrons and employees of the club.

In the corner of his eyes, he saw someone else rapidly moving towards the back of the club, but he paid them no mind. His own focused on reaching Yasaka, who, while he might not have known how, he hoped, at the very least, would make this situation he got himself into slightly more bearable.

Once he reached the bar, Yasaka, paid him no attention. This wasn't out of spite, or some form of malevolence, but rather, because he simply hadn't noticed him. Minato's friend was preoccupied with serving patrons on the side of the bar farthest from Minato. Minato craned his neck out to see what his friend was doing. His neck wasn't exactly long, it was average sized, so if he want to see Yasaka, he'd have to lean on the bar for a bit. Which is exactly what he did, when he saw the man pouring another a drink, laughing and smiling at a story one of the hosts was telling to a client.

As Yasaka turned to put away the bottle he'd just used, his eyes flashed over Minato, and widened in recognition. He smiled, and after putting the bottle away, made his way towards his friend.

"You know this is a host club, right? All the entertainers here are men, and I'm pretty sure all of them are straight," Yasaka joked.

Minato's mind ran a mile a minute flitting from thought to thought, trying to develop a counter or a comeback. He couldn't think of anything so he just chuckled awkwardly. "Heh heh, yeah, you got me," he replied.

"Seriously though, what are you even doing here?" Yasaka said.

"I came here to see you," Minato responded.

Yasaka scoffed, "Look, Minato, I'm flattered and all, but I'm just a bartender tonight," he laughed, looking around at the other hosts, observing their reactions, he got a chuckle out of a few and their dates. Minato laughed along as well, it was a decent counter, he didn't find it funny, and, truth be told, was a little miffed at being mocked, but he went along with it nonetheless.

"Look, can I just get a drink or something?" Minato asked, exasperated.

Yasaka smirked, "You sure you're old enough to be here, dude?" Yasaka replied

This got another chuckle out of the nearby hosts, but this only served to anger Minato, to him, it seemed as though this entire trip was one big mess. He felt awkward when he came in, some hideous abomination might have tried to get with him, and his friend, who he hoped would at least provide some decent company was making fun of him, likely for the approval of his colleagues.

For a moment, Minato's expression hardened, and just as he was about to get up, and leave, a hand settled on his shoulder. The temperature in the area increased marginally, but noticeably. Minato turned his head to get a good look at the stranger, when he spoke, "Yasaka, lay off him for a bit, huh? Take it easy, I'm sure he's just here to have a good time, or something," a cool voice said from beside him.

As minato got a good look at the interjector, he felt a warmth growing in his stomach for some bizarre reason he couldn't understand. The most prominent feature of his that he noticed were his stark red eyes. Crimson pools that looked not unlike what the media might portray as a vampire's. Framed under a silver canopy that was his hair. Despite having a hair color that wouldn't be out of place on his mother, he didn't look much older than Minato himself. His form, androgynous, like his face, combining the ideals of masculine and feminine beauty in an almost alien the word beautiful might not be used to describe a man, it would be a perfect descriptor of the man in front of him. And while he might have appeared androgynous, he was still distinctly male.

"Kagari-san!" his friend said. "Minato here know I was just screwing around, right Minato?" Yasaka finished, nudging Minato with his elbow.

Minato simply stared at the man in confusion, intrinsically, he knew that the proper thing to do in this situation would be to laugh along with Yasaka,

He wiped off a bit of wine that slipped down the side of his lips with a napkin and looked on confidently at Minato and his friend. He smirked, staring directly into Minato's eyes as the woman hanging off his arm pawed at his chest. "Kagari-chan, let's go into the VIP lounge," She slurred.

Minato was undoubtedly a heterosexual man; he may have never been with a woman before, but he knew he preferred them to men. However, he could safely say, that the raven haired woman hanging off Kagari's arm, while not unattractive, and truth be told, actually kind of cute, still paled in comparison to the man sitting in front of him. "N-no homo" Minato whispered, quietly so that no one could hear, as Kagari removed his hand from Minato's shoulder. The gray haired host gave one final look to Minato before he took his leave, the drunk woman in his arms pressing herself against him, whispering into his ear.

Minato took a moment to collect himself before he looked at his friend again. "So, can I get a drink or something?" he said.

Yasaka looked at Minato knowingly, he smirked, with a raised eyebrow. "What'll it be?" He coolly asked.

"A mojito or something I guess," Minato answered.

"A mojito," Yasaka deadpanned. "What do you know about mojitos? When have you ever had a mojito before?"

"I saw it on TV, this guy on a show I like always drinks them, I wanted to see what the big fuss was," Minato replied.

"Why can't you get something normal, like a beer instead? Plenty of guys drink beer!" Yasaka countered.

"Because, I've had beer before. I hate the taste. My mom kept it in the fridge when she used to live with us," Minato struck back. At this point, he was starting to get irritated, which Yasaka wouldn't notice because the only external indicator of this would be a slight crease in his eyebrows.

"You're not supposed to drink it for the taste, you're supposed to drink it to get drunk! Do you even know what's inside a mojito?" Yasaka questioned.

"Do you? It's your first day on the job!" Minato spat.

Yasaka was taken aback by Minato's sudden ferocity. He visibly stepped back, and shifted his weight backwards. His mouth stayed open for a second too long, and his eyes were wide. "Listen , Minato, I'm sorry if I upset you or something. I was just breaking balls, you know? I was just teasing you a bit. Here, let me make you your drink." Yasaka returned.

"Thanks," Minato began, "I'm sorry for snapping at you, I just haven't been having to good a day, how much do I owe you?" he asked.

"Don't worry about it," Yasaka replied, "This one's on me, sorry for being so hard on you."

"It's okay," Minato nodded.

A few moments later, Minato saw his friend preparing his drink. He was consulting a sheet under the bar, as he put his order together. Handing it to Minato a moment later. Minato thanked him in turn, smiling as he raised his glass to his lips, and allowed the flavors to wash down his throat.

The next few moments passed as quickly as they came, as he quietly sipped on his mojito. However, once he'd had half of his drink, a heavy, meaty, hand came to rest on his shoulder He turned his head to see his own face reflected back at him from a pair of sunglasses belonging to a giant of a man. Human could hardly be used to describe the man standing before Minato. Words like behemoth or giant would be more fitting considering the size of him. Minato gulped as he saw the word "SECURITY" emblazoned on his black t-shirt.

"Sir, I'm going to have to ask you to leave," he said.

"What? Why?" Minato asked.

"This is a host club sir, we cater to women, not men. Additionally, some of the guests are unnerved by your presence, and I am under the impression that you are not old enough to be here," The bouncer calmly replied, his voice completely even, and bordering compassionate and condescending.

Minato looked at Yasaka for help, and Yasaka just looked like a deer caught in headlights, body ramrod straight, and eyes the size of dinner plates. Minato gulped and moved to stand, before Yaska shouted in what was most certainly not an indoor voice "At least let him finish his drink!" The bouncer cocked an eyebrow, not that it could be seen under his sunglasses, and Yasaka continued speaking unprompted, "This guy paid for his drink, and he's already had half of it, might as well let him finish it!" Yasaka finished.

The bouncer shrugged and nudged Minato, who, in turn grabbed his glass and pounded his drink back, wincing at the burn in his throat. Moments later Minato was outside the club, the bouncer staring at him. "I didn't disturb anyone when I was inside!" Minato exclaimed.

"Look, kid, I'm just doing my job, someone says you're making a disturbance, It's my job to kick you out, doesn't matter if you were or weren't." The bouncer shrugged. "Besides, I saw you in there, you were walking around like an autist, with your mouth hanging open, and your eyes bigger than my balls. I would've kicked you out sooner, but you were a bit too entertaining to watch." He finished.

Minato, with a blank face, raised his finger to interject before putting it down and slumping, "Yeah, alright, whatever," he sighed before taking his leave.

A few moments later he was wandering the streets of Tokyo again, at this point in the day, he hadn't had anything to eat so he stopped inside a cafe and ordered some breakfast foods and a cup of coffee. Just sitting at a table outside the cafe, he bit into his breakfast and took in his surroundings, people in business suits, discussing whatever it was that they were, couples looking at each other lovingly, and even a fat loser every now and then.

It was these sights that returned his feeling of "why" to him. It wasn't too late to apply to some other colleges, some of the universities in Japan still had open rolling admissions. He could probably make it into a decent college on his grades alone.

However, his thoughts were interrupted by the sight of a gray haired pale skinned man in a sweater putting up flyers for something he couldn't make out yet. Finishing his food, he grabbed his cup of coffee and stood behind the man. His eyes widening and his lips turning upwards into a smile at the sight of the text on the pages.

"TOWNHOUSE FOR RENT, INDIVIDUAL ROOMS AVAILABLE, ROOMS ARE TRADITIONALLY DECORATED. UTILITIES INCLUDED, FREE WIFI ACCESS, EASILY ACCESSIBLE BY PUBLIC TRANSPORT. RENT NEGOTIABLE" he tapped the man on the shoulder to make him turn around.

"Excuse me, my name is Minato Sahashi," he said, bowing, "I'd like to rent a room in your town house," he said.

The silver haired man turned around before bowing and introducing himself. "My name is Asama Takehito," he said. "Are you sure you want to rent the place? You don't know anything about it. You haven't even seen it, and you don't even know how much the rent is. Sahashi-san, right?" he asked, his eyes mischievous, and with what looked like a glint of curiosity in them, a toothy smile on his face; he stuck his hand out, and Minato could see a silver ring on his finger. Minato took his hand and shook it, feeling the cool metal of the ring against his palm.

Minato gulped, despite his throat still being warm from the coffee he was drinking, his throat felt dry. "Well, that's the thing," Minato began, "I'm not sure if I want to rent the place yet, I was hoping to see the place and see how much rent was," he said.

Takehito's smile only widened in turn, "Well, if you just wanted to talk, you should have said that from the beginning," he laughed. "tell you what, are you free right now?" he asked.

Minato looked down at his cup of coffee, sloshing the liquids inside around, "Yeah, pretty much, I didn't have anything to do after this," he said, scratching the back of his head.

"That's good," the researcher responded. "Tell you what, I'm going to go inside, grab myself a latte," he peered inside the restaurant as he said this, "line doesn't look too long, so it shouldn't take me more than five minutes. I'm pretty much done putting up flyers for today, so why don't we go to my place after?" he asked. "We can get to know each other as bit better, you can get a good look at the place, and we can negotiate properly once we're there." he finished, pointing his thumb at the door.

Minato smiled in turn, nodding his head slightly, "Yeah, sure, that sounds great," he replied.

"Great, I'll be back in a few minutes then," Takehito stated, as he began walking towards the door of the cafe.

Minato in turn smiled, and took a seat at one of the tables outside the cafe once Takehito was inside. He saw the man standing in line, smiling and talking to the cashier, before nodding at and thanking a barista who brought him his drink. He sighed after inhaling the aroma of his beverage, a content look on his face and he took in the scent of his drink. Minato stood up again, awkwardly fumbling with the chair, trying to place it directly against the table as Takehito stepped out.

Takehito gestured in a direction with his head towards Minato who began following the man in turn.

"Normally, when I deal with renters, I give them my address after they call and show interest in the place. Afterwards, I invite them over to see the place, you know, make sure they know what they're getting. After giving them a tour, I usually sit down and interview them over a cup of tea. I like to get a good feel for my renters, feel them out, you know?" the scientist said.

"Is that what we're going to do?" the student asked.

"No," the tuner replied.

Minato remained silent, waiting for the man who might own the next place he lived in to continue speaking as they walked towards his home.

"We've already met in person, and we're heading to the house. As such, there's no real need for me to call you can give you my address. Additionally, while I usually interview prospective renters over a cup of tea and a conversation, we've both already got caffeinated beverages in our hands, and we're already engaged in conversation. We don't really know each other, so now is as good a time as any for your interview. Does that sound good to you?" Takehito asked.

Minato gulped, before nodding, assenting verbally while making eye contact with the man he didn't know was his mother's coworker, and superior.

"Great! So, Sahashi," his prospective landlord began, "Why do you want to rent my place?" he asked taking a sip from his latte.

"Well, I need a place to live," Minato said, his expression and voice completely neutral as though he was stating a fact.

Takehito simply smiled and blew out of his nose harder than he normally would have, "A sense of humor, perfect, if you do rent the place we'll probably get along, seriously though, why do you want to rent the place?" he said

Minato did not see what was funny, but he smiled and let out a small chuckle, if anything, just to go with the flow. Minato also did not see that at this point, both men were walking in what was definitely a residential area. "I get kicked out of my current place at the end of the month, apparently the landlord has to do some renovations," he said.

"Are you currently working, and if so, what kind of a job," the interviewer continued.

The interviewee nervously fidgeted a little at this question, employment was a less than comfortable topic for the young man considering that he was unemployed and living off the allowance his mother gave him. Minato coughed lightly into his hand before answering.

"I'm actually currently not employed, I receive a monthly stipend from my mom to pay for rent and any other expenses," he said.

Takehito's eyebrows rose a little, Minato couldn't discern any of his thought or emotions from the neutral look on the man's face. "I just graduated high school this year, and Im relatively new to Tokyo. I've got savings and I'll probably pick up a part time job once I'm in college." He stuttered. Small droplets of sweat appearing below his hairline.

Takehito nodded at this. Before a small smile crept across his face. "You mentioned that you were applying to college, where did you apply?" he asked.

"Todai University," Minato shot back, almost too quickly. Before beating himself up mentally at the fact that he answered as quickly as he did. There were beads of sweat running down the back of his neck.

"I'm actually an alumnus there. What are you planning on majoring in?" Takehito questioned.

"I'm not sure yet," Minato mumbled, running a sleeve over his perspiring forehead. "I'm probably going to take some general requirements before figuring out what I'm going to major in."

When the Sahashi son looked down at his sleeve, he saw that it was drenched in sweat, and he could still feel more beads of perspiration building on his brow. The underarms of his shirt had sweat stains as well. He started breathing a bit harder than before, not hard enough for someone else to notice, but hard enough for him to notice.

"Oh, hey, look, we're already here!" Takehito exclaimed.

Minato's eyes shot open at this. He could not believe how quickly time had passed.

"Sahashi, come on, we don't have all day!" Takehito said, walking through the doorway and into the arms of a purple haired woman.

"C-coming," Minato replied as he followed his guide indoors.

Out of the corner of his eye Minato saw his host taking his shoes off and putting them to the side all the while making suggestive faces to the woman in front of him. Being a civilized individual, he opted to follow his host's example and place his shoes adjacent to the owner of the house's. However, he decided to not follow his hosts example of making faces at the woman he assumed was his wife.

"Sahashi-san, allow me to introduce you to my wife, Asama Miya," the man of the house said, walking next to the woman and putting his arm around her waist, pulling her into his side. He moved behind her, wrapped both arms around her and kissed the side of her neck, making her let out a squeal that eventually broke down unto a giggle.

"Takehito, not in front of guests," she breathed, lightly swatting at her husband, a red glow and a wide smile coating her face.

"Miya, this is Minato Sahashi, he says he wants to rent one of our rooms." Takehito said, squeezing his blushing wife's abdomen with his forearms.

"Sorry for the intrusion!" Minato interjected, bowing.

"Sahashi-san," she breathed, her eyebrow perked up in curiosity in spite of the luminescent blush on her face due to her husband's ministrations. He eyes quickly flitted to the man next to her. "Takehito, maybe you should show him around, I'll go prepare some tea," she said.

Takehito's expressions changed from a smile that clearly displayed happiness to a more neutral variant. "Right," he began, letting go of his wife, "Sahashi, if you'll follow me, I'll show you the room we have available as well as the other amenities of this place."

Minato nodded and followed his guide around the home, who in turn, filled him in on various bits of information about the house.

"This is the room we have available for rent," Takehito stated, "go ahead, step inside, look around, get a feel for the place." he continued.

Minato obliged the man and did just that. Stepping in, he began looking around the room, looking for water damage, cracks, chipped paint, potential holes for cockroaches or any other pests like mice or rats to come in from. He walked up to the futon to examine it for blood stains or any other signs of the presence of bed bugs. Finding nothing, he breathed out a sigh of relief.

"Utilities are included, by the way," his host interrupted.

He made his way out to the window and looked outside, admiring the view of the neighboring houses, as well as the garden outside. The home was clearly in a nice area.

"Asama-San, I don't think I can afford this place," he said, turning around.

"You don't even know how much the place costs," came the reply.

"This home is in nice condition, in a nice area, what's the rent like?" he asked.

"How much do you think this place costs?" Takehito asked

"More than I can afford," Returned Minato, not noticing the slight strain on Takehito;s cheshire smile.

"At this point, you're negotiating against yourself. Come on kid, you said you needed a place to stay, a good negotiation tactic is to at the least, entertain the person you're doing business with, it might make them more likely to give you favorable terms," came the reply. Takehito's smile a bit wider, and more forced than before.

Minato exhaled through his nose before playing his cards. "Considering that we're in Tokyo, a single room, with utilities, in a neighborhood like this? I'd say 100,000 yen," he said, shrugging.

Takehito drummed his fingers on his thighs, eyebrows raised slightly before smiling genuinely. "Well, that's a good try," he began, "120,000 is closer to what I was thinking," he finished.

Minato's shoulders sagged in response, he let out a sigh. "Yeah, I figured, I can't really make that," he said, beginning to turn around.

"Minato, wait, before you leave, how good are you at housework?" Asked Takehito.

"I'm okay at it I guess, I've been living on my own since school ended," came the reply.

"What's the most you can make for rent, per month?" Takehito continued

"Can't do more than 50,000 a month," said Minato.

"Look, here at Maison Izumo, I never like to turn away someone in need, and I was in a similar position as you once. I'm going to talk this over with my wife, but an arrangement we have with our other tenants is that they all contribute to the house in the form of chores. If you do some work around the house, jobs that I'll assign to you, then maybe I can see if I can bump the rent down to 50,000." Takehito finished.

Minato was taken aback. "But that's less than half your asking price!?" He asked, incredulous.

"Like I said, I don't like to turn away those in need. And you look like you really need some help, " Takehito returned.

Minato's face brightened and a smile broke across it, from cheek to cheek. He abruptly bowed before he exclaimed "Thank you Asama-San!"

"Calm down, I'm going to talk this over with my wife first, we need to discuss and think about this first, you said you're getting kicked out at the end of the month, right?" he asked, pulling out a pen and a piece of paper from his pocket, "write down your name and number on this, we'll call you before it come to that," he finished, handing them to Minato.

Minato eagerly nodded before following the man's instructions, "If I don't pick up, please just leave a message and I'll get back to you asap," he said.

Takehito smiled and nodded, taking the pen and paper away from Minato before leading him downstairs and out the door. "Well Sahashi-san, it's been nice meeting you, we'll have to do this again soon," he said.

"It's been nice meeting you too," Minato said, slipping on his sneakers before walking out the door.

"See you later Sahashi-san, remember, I'll call you," Takehito stated.

"Goodbye, Asama-San," Minato replied, a small smile on his face as he finally felt something he hadn't felt in a long while, hope.

After he'd left, Miya closed the door and turned to face her husband "Sahashi?" She asked

"I would think so," Replied her husband

"I don't like work being brought into the home," She shot back.

He squeezed her from behind, making her let out a squeak, "Let's just think about it for a while, I'm going to ask his mother about it too," He said, kissing the side of her neck.


End file.
